Cooking and Baking 102

Although I still have a ton to learn about cooking and baking, I have been practicing a lot more lately and I think I can say I am moving on from the 101 level....but only to 102...maybe...

Here are a few of my latest adventures.

Home made soft pretzels:

These were a lot of work. They started out great but one step in the directions made them take a turn for the worst. It had me boil them in a soda bath- baking soda- for one minute. All it did was make the uncooked dough soggy and smashed the pretzel shape so it was unidentifiable. After the first two, I decided to not soak the other two and it worked out much better. My only other problem at that point was I put the cinnamon-sugar on before it went in the oven and then it proceeded to burn. Again, not my fault- the directions said to. So in the future I would just sprinkle it on afterward. All in all, I might not be making these again soon but maybe someday. They did taste good though.


Pizza Balls:

So easy and delicious and fun!

I got the recipe off of a blog, which one I can't remember. All you do is make/take a pizza dough, roll it out, cut it into squares (it says 24) and put cheese and the toppings in the center of each. Don't put any sauce. Then you roll them up and pinch them closed, place them all in a greased pie dish, or something similar. Sprinkle italian seasoning and garlic powder and parmesan cheese.
Bake for about 10-12-15 minutes (my oven is quick).

Serve with marinara to dip in. So yummy!!


Other adventures:

I made the home-made chocolate cake, home-made fondant roses and home-made frosting. All were mentioned and shown in my valentine's post.

Apple Pie- also mentioned and shown in V-day post. Again, I have yet to master the pie crust. Any advice and/or tips are welcome.

Home made pancakes, pink and heart shaped. Not too brag worthy but still fun. Shown in v-day post.

Home-made chicken tortilla soup. Yum! No pictures sorry. If you want the recipe, let me know, though! It's really good!

Home-made pizza- turned out excellent but no pictures again, sorry.

Cowboy Quesadillas. SO good. One of our new favorites. In fact, I think I'll give that recipe in a separate post soon, that's how much I like it.

Chocolate Lava Cakes- DIVINE. I got the recipe from Emily in our family cook book and it's phenomenal!! Let me know if you want it or need it! (because lava cakes can most definitely be a necessity)



I can't remember anything else that has been recent. If I think of something good, I'll come back and share the recipe. In the meantime, thank you for your support and encouragement as I try and learn how to make yummy food! Most of all, thank you for your patience with any questions I might have bugged you with, and for being excited for me when I blog about my lame attempts in the kitchen. haha.